Redemption
by KiyokoMoments
Summary: The Will of the Abyss had taken away her happiness. Her punishment would be to live, but not belong. To survive, but at what cost?   The Will had granted her a punishment worse than death it's self. Walking the world alone.   No one wants to be alone.
1. Reliquish

AN: I wrote the first three chapters fo the story throughout these last 2 months. So now that I have a basic plot I think I will post this and let you guys decide if you would like to see more. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own or profit from Pandora Hearts.

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Redemption - Chapter 1

Reliquish

–verb (used with object)

1.

to renounce or surrender (a possession, right, etc.): torelinquish the throne.

2.

to give up; put aside or desist from: to relinquish a plan.

3.

to let go; release: to relinquish one's hold.

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Her breath was haggard, each gasp was a feeble attempt to lengthen her survival. Sharon looked around herself, the gloomy waters of the Abyss surrounded her. Her once long and glorious hair was matted and drenched in her own blood, crusting into a brown clump. She gave a dry laugh. Even Eques had left her. There was no one to stand by her now, no one to hold on to. And most of all no one to lean on. Sharon stood up, feeling the youth being sucked out of her. She rapidly aged as her body tried to compensate for the ten years that she had lost. But for once she wasn't powerless, and she didn't regret anything. She had saved him, and that was all that mattered.

Sharon raised her chin a determined look crossing her face, she would walk to her own demise without a regret. She had given him back his life... It was all worth it.

It had started out simply as another journey to search for a piece of Jack's body.

15 hours earlier

Zai smirked as he stared upon the face of his son. Oz's head hung in hopeless despair, his eyes were gazed over as if he was already dead. How pathetic. Sharon lay helpless on the floor her dress was torn to ribbons. Her head ached, blurring her vision as she struggled aimlessly to stand. Slowly to her left, Break struggled to his feet. Rough hackling coughs shook his body, he raised one gloved hand to wipe away the trail of blood from his mouth. He gave a grim smile. Sharon knew that look, it was a parting smile.

Break was going to throw everything away, for her.

"Don't worry Ojou-sama I'll protect you."

Those were his last words as he raised his cane. The shuddering strength of Mad Hatter's power surrounded them. It was as if they would all be saved. Of course it was not so, Break's unseeing eye opened wide in shock as he looked upon the blade that struck through his stomach. The blood slowly dribbled down the front of his shirt. He crumpled onto the floor, his one eye staring ahead in horror. Would this be the end?

Zai turned, his hand extending to Break, he would end Kevin Regard for good, and this time he would have no hope of returning from Abyss. Zai smirked, it would be his gift to abyss. A warning to show her that she would soon be within his grasp. In that moment of anguish Sharon rose unsteadily to her feet. Without a moment of hesitation she ran towards Break, her arms extended ready to push him away. He gave her an incoherent stare as he fell away from Zai's approaching hand. Zai's hand struck her own forehead. As abyss opened up beneath her she turned towards Xerxes.

"Arigato Xerxes-nii. For everything you've done."

The last thing she remembered was watching Break slam his closed fist into the ground, eye skewed shut as though he was trying to relinquish the pain of his own failings. Sharon wanted to reach out to him once, to let him know that it wasn't his fault. Saving him had made her happier than anything.

"Hello Alice." She smiled at the white haired girl standing before her. Alice stared at her, it was rare for anyone to greet her with such a grateful smile. No one would ever accept their own fate with such open arms. Blankly she found herself reaching for Sharon's eyes. Yet the smile never wavered. Alice's hand stopped suddenly. Who was this girl?

Sharon just kept smiling, the bitter twinge of regret didn't touch her. For she didn't regret anything. In the end she was not powerless she was able to save Break from Abyss. She was able to prove once and for all that she was not a burden. She was... not a burden anymore. Even if it would cost her everything that was dear to her.

"Wait." Sharon whispered.

Alice smiled in relief, yes this girl was just like all the others... All the others... She came here to gain something back. She had a request, just like every other human. Those pathetic creatures that would throw away everything even those that they loved for a chance to gain something back. The humans that would slit the throat of their own siblings for a mere chance to make things right again.

She was just like everyone else.

"Let me keep my eyes." She gave a brilliant smile as though this was the happiest day of her life. Alice drew back in terror. This girl, she wasn't afraid. Gently she reached out to touch her cheek. This girl couldn't become a chain, she had no regrets, no hidden rage. Her unadulterated joy only served to spark Alice's anger. She withdrew her hand, cradling her wrist as though she had been shocked by the girl. Her face curved into a sneer.

How dare she? How could this girl be so carefree?

Hate.

She hated that girl. How could anyone dare to be so openly happy?

Alice gave a mad cackle. This girl would suffer, she would wipe that indulgent grin right off the girl's face! She would turn the girl into a chain! And send her back into the world that she so dearly loves. They would despise her. They would loathe Sharon Reinsworth for the monster that she would become. Most of all, the man that she had sacrificed herself to save would loathe her for who she will be. She would send send Sharon Reinsworth back to stain her hands with the blood of those that she had so dearly loved.

Alice could practically taste the pain of their tears as the image of the future flashed through her mind. She laughed wildly. They would know pain then! They would know the bitter horror that she had felt. There were no happy endings in life. She'd teach them that!

Sharon stared curiously at Alice. The smile never left her face, for her entire life she had been told to smile wholeheartedly. Never letting anyone see below the mask. Xerxes-nii... She had given him the last gift that she would ever give him... She had given him her life for his.

Sharon smiled, she had no regrets. She had given up everything to let Break have a chance at life, and if she could do it all over again, she would do the exact same thing. She had finally proven herself useful to them. For once and for all.

At that moment a bright light flooded through Sharon's body. Would this be the end? Or perhaps it was merely the beginning.

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AN: That was a ver short chapter, I promise the next one is longer.


	2. Forlorn

**AN: Hello everyone I hope you enjoy this chapter, you've no idea how great it feels to hear you guys review. So thank you Passer, and Dragonfly999. And to everyone else that added this story to your alert/favorites list. Thank you! So I'm going to stop talking now and let you enjoy this chapter. It's slightly longer than the first. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pandora Hearts or profit from this fanfiction. **

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for·lorn (fr-lôrn, fôr-)

_adj._

**1. **

**a. ** Appearing sad or lonely because deserted or abandoned.

**b. ** Forsaken or deprived: forlorn of all hope.

**2. ** Wretched or pitiful in appearance or condition: forlorn roadside shacks.

**3. ** Nearly hopeless; desperate. See Synonyms at despondent.

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Vincent Nightray felt his breath freeze as he looked upon the body strew upon cold marble floor. Her arms were spread like that of an eagle. The long tresses of auburn hair encircled her like silk sheets. Her fair skin shone within the dark Nightray Mansion like a beacon of light. An overwhelming warmth against the darkness.

Vincent felt the corners of his mouth tilt up in delight.

All these months Pandora has sat idle, mooning over the disappearance of Miss Reinsworth. And here she was seemingly dropped from the heavens right into his arms. Here was the key that he needed, the leverage her could use to obtain the key of Reinsworth household.

His outstretched hands bent to caress her skin, gently picking her up and cradling the soft body against his chest. She was exactly what he needed. She gave a soft murmur as she pressed herself closer to him.

Slowly her eyes opened, blinded by the bright lights emitting form the candles that surrounded her. Her eyes were vapid of anything that had once been the young woman that Vincent knew, she only stared blankly at where he stood, cloaked by the darkness.

"I see you are awake." His eyes flickered up to meet hers, trying to find anything of the girl that he used to know.

"Yes. What of it?" She murmured.

Vincent bit back a laugh, the Sharon he had known would have instantly recoiled at his mere presence. Sharon had disappeared sixteen months ago, yet she returned looking as though she had aged ten years. Her body had filled out to the body of a woman, yet that would mean only one thing.

Why all the better.

"Miss Sharon. What do you plan to do?"

"What do you mean Vincent. I plan to return to my friends." She paused, seeking the reason why she had spoke of her loved ones as though they were someone foreign.

Everything that had happened until that point. She cherish all those moments. So why did it feel empty? Like a stranger looking into a life that wasn't theirs.

Vincent kept silent, his eyes cold and calculating as he analyzed the expressions that flew across her face. The way she spoke. Without fear, yet also without warmth.

They were the words of a corpse.

His eyes span over her body, not matter what his conclusions Sharon Reinsworth is alive.

Then it struck him. It was as clear as day.

"The Will of Abyss turned you into a chain didn't she? Not only that but she took away your emotions. You can't feel a thing can you?"

Vincent let out a triumphant smirk as he watched her body shake in beat with the thudding of her heart. The tiny fragile hands reached up to touch her cheeks. She was cold. Simply cold, nothing else. No matter how she searched there seemed no way to call that part of her back.

The tears prickled at the edge of her eyes, unconsciously they slipped over her cheeks. She looked at her hands, pressing them to her face, looking at the tears. She couldn't understand what was happening.

Why was she crying.

Why was there nothing?

The Will of the Abyss had her way, she had taken away Sharon's everything and thrown back into a world where she couldn't belong. She was made into a creature that stood on the opposite of the battlefield. A person that would never feel any of the simple pleasures of living.

The Will of the Abyss had made her alone.

No one wants to be alone.

Vincent stepped towards her, his hand brushed aside her hair as he bent to whisper in her ear.

"You are nothing. You will be of no use to your friends. Sharon Reinsworth, tell me do you think any of them will welcome you back with open arms when they have learned of what you become. A bloodthirsty chain."

Seductively his warm breathed blew across her skin, in mockery of what she no longer could feel.

"Soon the bloodlust will begin, do you really hope to think that you'll be able to control yourself. Do you really think that you can control the animal that you have become? Those people that had originally honored you as the little lady of the Reinsworth house, they will all turn against you. Pandora would never let you live. A chain without a master, how long can you go without the taste of humans before Xerxes Break brings you down himself?"

Sharon didn't feel the venom in his words, but instead the honesty.

He was right there was nothing for her in this place. This was her curse.

"But of course there is another option."

Her eyes regarded him with distrust.

"Why on earth should I trust the man that had once attempted to kill me?"

Her sharp eyes pierced into him, despite everything logic still hasn't left her. And she saw no reason to even listen to the man's offer.

"Perhaps because I'm the only person that can keep you from murdering all those people that you used to call friends. Tell me, have you lost your senses that you would kill even those you used to claim to love?"

She kept silent after his words. She was powerless.

"Join me, be my chain and I will make sure to hide your existence. You'll at least be able to help your precious friends from behind enemy lines."

Vincent smiled as he watched her take his outstretched hand immediately.  
But he would never see the turmoil in her eyes. In spite of everything she knew exactly what she was about to do. She no longer felt anything in her own betrayal. It would be fine if they hated her, if they all tried to kill her. She would at least be able to keep their memories alive.

On this earth, what else is there for her to do. Sharon accepted the deal without wavering. One thing was for sure she would do anything to keep Break safe. She couldn't explain it but there was still a faint longing within her to see Xerxes-nii again. Logically, she did this for the old Sharon, the girl that she was in her memories. The girl that she no longer knew. In the end all it is is memories.

All she could do was keep the memories alive of what that girl would have wanted.

And just maybe little by little she would be able to find again all those emotions.

* * *

Gilbert Nightray stared out at the rain that pattered down to the empty road ahead. His eyes followed each drop of water as it fell apart upon hitting the pavement. Each rain drop was a part of piece of memory and hope, shattering upon the hard surface. There was nothing he could do to keep them together.

Gil remembered what had kept him going after Oz's disappearance, the hope that if he just worked hard enough he would be able to attain raven. If he just tried harder he would be able to get his master again.

All these months he watched Xerxes Break fall apart at the seams. With nothing to pull him together again.

Each rain drop hit the floor, but unlike rain hope could never be put back together again. Gil's golden eyes followed the trail of water as the it flowed together to whole once more. Shattered memories can never be put back together.

Slowly he drew his frozen finger through the mousy locks of neglected hair, slowly closing his eyes to the soothing sound of rain. It was then that another hand caressed his cheek, the five o'clock shadow scratching against Oz's hand.

"Gil, what are you thinking about?"

Gil breathed out a small sigh, his hands catching Oz's and pressing it to his cheek. Somehow he wanted to feel his master's touch, the warmth letting him know that Oz was with him. And in spite of it all Gil felt a bit of relief. A pinch of guilt pulled at his smile.

* * *

"I was thinking about Break. About his voice. About that day."

"Please Gil. Please." Breaks voice shuddered as his skeleton like hands grabbed at Gil's shirt in desperation. His hollowed cheek shone ghostly in the moonlight.

"You understand Gil, you know what it was like. You know what it feels like to lose. To lose." His single red eye showed none of the old precision. None of the old mischief.

How could he?

A second time, the man had been forced to watch as the person he loved fade right before his eyes.  
Gil knew that spark in Break's eyes. He bit his lip, stepping back from the deranged man.

"I can't you know I can't Break. I can't and I won't send you to Abyss."

Xerxes' eyes blazed with anger.

"I have to try Gil. I have to, Sharon she is my- my..." He trailed off, his voice cracking and hoarse.  
Gil looked away unable to look into those eyes and know exactly the hopelessness in the man's eyes. He didn't want to see himself reflected in those pupils. All those years of pain and waiting. Yet there was simply no way.

"I can't let you do that Break. You'll never return." His spoke harshly.

"I though you would understand. I-I thought you of all people would know what it's like, to be so alone." The pale bone white hands seized the collar of his shirt. His hands tugged Gil forward, before pushing him into the wall.

"DAMMIT GIL! You of all people should know what it's like! I have to try. I just have to try." He shuddered, all the fire escaping his body. Break slumped over, his white hair covering his eye. He was just so defeated, knowing that she was there somewhere, but having no way to reach his lady. Gilbert closed his eyes, as he stood there, knowing full well the tears trailing down Xerxes' eyes. They would never speak of it.

It was their pain alone to bear.

"I'm sorry Break."

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**AN: I must say this is a rather abrupt ending, however there will be more to come. I know Break seems like a nutter right now (when hasn't he been?) that will be developed more later on. So please review! Thanks everyone!**

**Also I'm going to try to write a few one shots, if there are any ideas/pairing/ect. you would like me to write please message me.  
**


	3. Ameliorate

**AN: Surprised I'm updating so quickly? Trust me, I'm surprised too. You can thank Reyrocks, ps, and Girl Wonder 2005 for this update, also the amazing people that added this story to their alert/favorite list! I figured since you guys take the time to review this story then shouldn't I take the time to write something in time for thanksgiving. (I'm an American, so Happy Thanksgiving everyone!) And please enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Pandora Hearts. **

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Ameliorate

–verb (used with object), verb (used without object), -rat·ed, -rat·ing.

to make or become better, more bearable, or more satisfactory; improve; meliorate.

* * *

A flash of metal, the light shone upon her face for a fleeting moment before the darkness enveloped her once more. Sharon Reinsworth looked down upon the man that she had just killed with little remorse. There was no guilt in her steps as she walked away from the body. The scent of blood tickled her nose, the heavy stench of iron flooding the room. Somewhere within her, something smiled at the pure unadulterated thrill that spread throughout her fingertips. It was like electricity the prickling sensation horrifying yet beautiful at the same time.

This was her first kill and it wouldn't be her last. It was no longer what she was doing this for, rather it was the need that crushed her lungs, the commands issued by the power she could not contain.

Slowly she ran a hand over the blade, wiping away the red stain of her sin. This was it for her, this was all that she could do for the world that she had been tossed out of. Yet there was something more that she longed for. All those memories, that feeling from what seemed like so long ago, she wanted-

She wanted everything back.

She wanted him back.

For a moment her hand wavered, the nukata clattering to the ground. Her heart gave a shuddering jolt, for s second she felt alive again. The rush of warmth flooded her body. She cradled the trembling limb to her body, willing it all to stop. Sharon cursed herself for that moment of weakness. Beneath it all she knew that there was no going back.

Why dream of a paradise that she could never attain?

Sharon shook her head, she couldn't let her self be tortured by those moments. Each tantalizing second only hurt more when it ended.

In slow staggering steps, she stepped outside into the blinding white light. She blinked back the sudden onslaught of brightness.

"Miss?"

A voice called, Sharon's head snapped to the sound, her eyes instantly alert. That shock of blond hair, the tall dark haired man that stood by him side. No. It couldn't be.

Slowly Oz's eyes' widened as he recognized her.

She flew into action, her hands never wavering as she ran at him. Instantly she was able to engrave the hatred into her eyes. They couldn't, they simply couldn't know that it was her.

Gil clenched his jaw, pulling out the gun with no hesitation. He pointed it at her form, ready to shoot should she move any closer. He lost his master once, he wouldn't lose Oz again.

Not for anyone.

His finger pulled on the trigger, eye's wide as he waited for his target to fall. That was all that she was, the moment she turn a blade on his master Sharon became nothing more than just another target for him. Gil's eyes flashed with deadly precision, he raised the gun again the barrel trained on her crumpled form.

She fell backwards a hand pushing on the streak of red where the bullet had grazed her side. She never met either of their eyes. Sharon stumbled back, biting her bottom lip and tearing into the flesh.

"GIL! What are you doing?" The insistent hand pulled his arm down, and missing the second shot. At that moment the woman took her chance. The deadly edge of the blade glinted with everything that she was. And for all that she was, she vanished into the air.

As though she had never been there at all.

* * *

From the rooftops Alice watched the scene. Her smile had twisted into a bitter frown. The smell of a chain reeked from Sharon, she knew exactly who that was. Her eyes were not to be fooled. For less than a second Sharon had stood there, in point blank of the shot.

She had let herself be shot. Alice clenched her fists her tiny frame shuddering with the anger that spread like a wildfire throughout her body. The Will of Abyss had cursed Sharon with something more. She could never die at her own hand.

Likely Sharon already knew that.

Slow agonized steps could be heard from behind her. Sharon jerked up, staring at her in shock. Of all people-

"Sharon, you really have returned haven't you?" Alice spoke those words without looking at the girl.

"Why." Alice bit out the word like a command. But she didn't want to know why the other girl had returned. "Why did you just stand there and take that bullet."

Sharon remained silent, her hands trying in vain to curb the trail of blood that poured freely from the graze.

"Alice, I'm sorry." She whispered.

Sharon nodded towards Gil and Oz as they searched for her. It struck her for the first time, as she stood watching them. From that moment forward she would always be standing on the other side of the battlefield watching what she could have again.

"SORRY FOR WHAT?" Alice turned her venomous gaze on Sharon, "Don't you see it? They need you far more than they need me. Break will never be able to let you go. What possible good did you think killing yourself would do? Don't let yourself be underestimated by the Will of Abyss. She let you back! Prove her wrong. Throw off her power!" Alice took in a deep breath, looking away from her former friend.

With those words she stormed away. Sharon let out a small, whimsical smile. It all seemed so easy to return back, it all seemed so simple when she said it.

Alice hadn't changed a bit.

Something that simple could be worth so much.

* * *

"Gil." Oz's voice quavered slightly as he rested his head against Gil's shoulder. His fingers traced the blood that had spilled from the woman's cut. It was the only evidence that she had been there.

"Gil," He tried again, "she said something to me."

His voice lowered to a whisper. He sounded thoughtful as he spoke.

"She told me: Don't say it. Don't say my name. I don't want him to-"

Oz gave a slight chuckle at the words. The last of her words had been blown away. Only the rustling of leaves was left in her wake.

He closed his eyes, savoring the heat from the fire. Somewhere within that woman Oz knew Sharon still existed.

"Sharon-chan, it's a promise."

* * *

As the night fell Xerxes Break returned to his room. On the desk sat a single blue rose wrapped in a red satin ribbon. His hands ran over the stem of the flower, his eyes lost in memories.

Slowly he was lead to the window. Break looked out at the cloudless night, a palm touching the glass that barred him from the outside.

A slow warmth flooded his finders. The feeling of another hand joining his. While it was all just a mirage, for a second Sharon felt the palm of her hand burn. Burning with a longing that she could never envision.

For a second it quieted the demon within her.

For a second she felt as though she was whole again.

For a second she believed that there was hope.

But then that feeling was gone, and she felt nothing. The world had stilled for that one moment.

That one moment would be enough to get them through the night.

Sharon would sleep that night, lulled by the gentle tenor of Break's voice.

Break leaned against the wall, his body simply exhausted, void of energy. He clutched the stem of the rose, not even noticing the trail of blood that ran from his fist. He held onto the flower with a death grip. It was the only thing that he could believe in.

At that moment, Break didn't notice the sender of the flower, a small dainty card that sat forgotten by the desk.

He held the rose up to his face, breathing in the scent.

"Sharon I know that you are out there. And I will find you. My ojou-sama."

He fell asleep with those words on his lips.

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**AN: Not as long as the last chapter. But I didn't want to encroach upon the next chapter's territory. So please please please review! They really do help. And they make me happy. *pouts***


	4. Harmonious

**AN: Happy Holidays! And Happy Festivas! (Festivas is for the Restofus). Ahh me and my terrible puns. I don't know how you guys tolerate me. 3 Now I've FINALLY updated and I hope you all enjoy this chapter. Before you ask: YES it does have a purpose. **

**And that will be reveal in good time. Thanks!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Pandora Hearts. **

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Vincent Nightray read over the letter with a small satisfied smile lingering over his lips. Slowly his tongue ran over the edged of the envelope, sealing it with a slow insincere grin. In sure time he would hold in his palm everything that he worked for.

All because of human nature.

* * *

"Break? Break!" Oz's voice rang sharply into Break's thoughts. The Hatter turned his eye upon the young man in supposed disinterest.

"Were you even listening to a thing I said Break?" Oz sighed with mild indignation at Break's lack of interest.

"Not at all Oz." He flippantly drew another sugar cube to his lips as he resumed his former pose of staring off into the distance.

Shaking his head slowly, Oz continued on,

"There is to be a Masquerade at the Nightray Manor. He says it's to stimulate an interpersonal encounter for some diplomats." Oz snorted, not believing for a second that was Vincent's true intentions.

Reim took of his glasses, cleaning them with a handkerchief.

"Nevertheless we all received invitations and must attend as delegations of our dukedoms." His eyes fixed upon Break, pointingly telling him that he was not allowed to wriggle out of this formality. Break drew back, his hand holding Emily to the ceiling gazing upon the doll in a sense of wonder.

"Fine, I'll be there."

* * *

The hatter slipped a mask over his face, it was everything that he was.

A mask, forever doomed to hide and keep hiding everything that plagued him. It was a bit of a relief, for one night he could be among strangers. He could be a stranger to everyone, as well as himself. There was the everlasting question was it for their benefit or his own?

Break's hands quickly and efficiently tied the bow around his neck. He saw himself in the mirror with little inclination. He was just going through the motions. In a minute misstep the ribbon fluttered from his fingers, Break stooped to catch the falling trial of satin. That was until he saw the small card that he had missed.

There was nothing in the words of the invitation that inspired him, but instead the familiar yet unnamable scent that filled the room caught his attention. Break clutched the tiny invitation to himself drawing in deep breaths, as he reached through memories to try to find the source of the scent.

Somehow he still couldn't place it.

It would be hours later when that same scent tickled Break's nose, drawing him to the center of the dancers.

Through the shinning fabrics that flew across the floor in step with the beat of the music he caught a whiff of that scent. It set him aflame in a way that he couldn't explain. Break was heedless of his duties as a representative of the Reinsworth household. It was a siren's call that he could not resist.

Then their eyes met. One would say that it was that old black magic, eyes meeting across a crowded room.

But it wasn't so. There was no magic in their world. It was reality true and pure followed by the curse of an ending.

Their reality.

There was nothing that could make Break divert his piecing stare. No responsibility, no morals, no laws could have dragged

It was a moment of pure disbelief.

The magic was broken when she turned her head sharply away from the white hair man. Sharon closed her eyes, her delicate hands grasping at her throat. She couldn't breathe, couldn't think. She didn't know how to look at him without the choking memories of her former self possessed her with the frenzy that Sharon hadn't felt for so long. It was something that she could never imagine. The chain within her snarled bitterly; angered by the sheer power of Sharon's emotions. For some reason they all came rushing back.

Everything that she had wanted to gain back, for one second all was right with the world.  
For one dizzying second.

She glanced at him once more, her eyes filling with all of warmth that she hadn't felt for so long. She walked towards him, involuntarily. It was as though she was being lead by a magnetic attraction. An inexplicable pull that she felt. A feeling of fulfillment that surged throughout her body.  
Break turned; his one eye caught the gentle glow that were barely contained within her own. Even behind the mask Break knew for that moment exactly who she was. He felt himself fixated upon the graceful form as she approached him.

"Sharon ojou-sama." He breathed out those words, whispered through dry lips.  
Uttered by a man so hungry for what he saw to be true. A man so desperate for this moment to last forever.

Slowly Break held out a hand, his smile trembled with his every heart beat as he stepped closer. For that moment her delicate fingers slipped into the glove of his hand. He didn't notice for those few minutes that her hand was as cold as ice. He didn't see that the young woman that he used to know had come to stand apart from him on the other side of the lines of battle.

And in return she only saw his eye, the one eye that was fixed upon her. Somehow she had healed him. She did not know how she knew but she knew that he could see. He could see her face, the vivid colors that surrounded them on the dance floor.

For one night only they could dance with each other, with wild abandon. Their lives thrown to the wind, where two people can just be together.  
"Break," She whispered, a shaky laugh coming from her body. "I never did teach you how to dance did I?"  
He chuckled slightly, a small laugh of mirth. Nevertheless it was something. She was alive and it was something that he could believe in. For the first time since that day, Xerxes Break had laughed.

"Really ojou-sama, did you think that I did nothing while you were away?" He stepped to the smooth strains of the violin, the music alive in their every step as they sailed across the marble floors. His arm wrapped around her waist, pulling her closer to his own body, as if he wanted to be sure that she was there. He wanted more than anything to hold her and make belief that he could hold her forever and never let go.

She rested her cheek against the soft fabric of his clothing, the light scent of his masculinity filling her with the calm.

This was a Masquerade. Where two strangers could dance with one another, no matter who they are or who they used to be, it was all hidden behind the masks. And for those few moments they wouldn't have to face each other nor the bitter bifurcation that had separated them past a point of no return.

Of course there always would be an end. One could never live in a paradise forever.  
The beautiful pull of the bow stilled and the violin stopped singing. The spell was broken.

Reality came rushing back as they stepped away from each other. their eyes met in mutual longing. She pulled away, her heels clicking upon the glassy floors. Never once did she look back. Sharon simply couldn't let herself look back and see the forlorn spark of hope in his eyes.

The misery that she had caused, the selfish manner in which she indulged her own emotions. In the end she only hurt him more in the long run.

So Sharon ran and kept running.  
She wouldn't glance back. She had chosen her path the only way to help them now was to stand and protect them from behind enemy lines.  
This was the life that she had chosen and there was no going back.

For minutes afterward Break would stand there, his hand held aloft as he reached for the woman that had been there only seconds ago. As the new song began, his hands dropped to his side. He glanced on with a longing, a thirst that could only be quenched by one person.

In his hand he held the only evidence that Sharon Reinsworth had been there that night. He cradled in his hand a single blue rosebud, tied with a shinning lock of golden hair.

He ran his thumb over the lock of hair, unwinding it from the blue rose, tucking the pieces of her hair into his breast pocket. His hand lingered for a second too long over his heart. Over where he had placed his only hope that his ojou-sama was still alive.

There was that ever present voice, telling him he was insane. That he drew conclusions from longing and delirium. But Xerxes knew better, he knew the sweet child-like scent that belonged to his ojou-sama. There were no persuasion that could even crack his resolution.

Slowly his turned his gaze upon the blue rose in his hand.

Blue roses only grew in one part of Pandora.

* * *

AN: Please, Please tell me if I made any spelling errors. I'm practically seeing double right now as I haven'y slept in... weeks.

When you don't sleep you usually also can't recognize which days is which. Thanks for reading and remember to review! (please with a cherry on top?)

(You know you want to review! I even wrote fluff! ...kinda.)


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